Of Arrows and Fallen Stars--an Olicity Stardust AU
A/N: A Stardust Olicity AU Christmas gift for my incredible beta and friend, @kayleepetey. Merry Christmas, dartie!
Disclaimer: I own nothing more than DVDs and a Pop! figurine of Arrow, and of Stardust nothing more than Neil Gaiman’s book and the film adaptation; both belong to their respective production companies and authors.
Rating: Teen (mild language and adult themes)
“A philosopher once asked,
‘Are we human because we gaze at the stars,
or do we gaze at them because we are human?’
Oliver hadn’t really given much thought to what was beyond the Wall. No more than what everyone in the small village of the same name did as children when told of the Wall and the forbidden land beyond it. He and Tommy, and later Thea and Laurel and Sara, would sneak into the meadow and peek through the gap at the empty field and trees, inventing all sorts of stories for what could be out there.
Monsters. Fairies. Giants. Witches.
But with every glimpse of grass and trees and sky no different than what lay on their side of the Wall, the allure of that forbidden bit of land faded.
And for Oliver, being the eldest son of Robert Queen, owner of the largest shipping company—and making him by extension the wealthiest—in the village, thoughts of what could be beyond the Wall faded even quicker as he grew up. What need did he have of whatever unknown existed outside Wall when he had everything he could ever want inside Wall?
Maybe that was why when his father finally sat him down and told him the truth that it was so hard for him to accept.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe his father’s tale of the magical market beyond the Wall. Or of the brief affair with the woman that gave birth to him and then sent him back to live with his father. But believing something was far different from experiencing it.
Like holding a magical candle in his hand and thinking of his mother as he lit it, expecting a lump of wax to just transport him right to her side. Then suddenly he was hurtling through space, too fast to see anything around him but a white-hot blur, until he crashed into something—someone, he amended—and found himself staring into a pair of wide blue eyes. The someone grunted as their momentum sent them tumbling to the ground, one on top of the other, those eyes immediately screwing shut with a wince of pain.
“Fuck me,” a feminine voice hissed into his neck, biting her lower lip so hard it blanched white. “Ow…”
Oliver stared in shock a moment before finding his voice. “Mom?” His brow furrowed as he took her in; the blue eyes and golden blond hair fit well enough, but the woman—girl, really—looked to be younger than he was.
When her gaze returned to his, the pain had been chased away by pure irritation. “Why would you even ask me that? How the hell could I be your mother?”
He huffed out a breath and shoved himself up and off of her, immensely thankful that Laurel wasn’t there to see him lying on top of a strange woman—that was what had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place, so it was highly unlikely she’d actually buy him saying that this time it was just a misunderstanding. He’d had a difficult enough time convincing her that what happened with Samantha was a one-time lapse in judgment, that it was Laurel he loved and wanted to show her just how serious he was about them being together… Not serious enough to ask that question he knew she’d been waiting for him to ask, but big sweeping gesture serious.
Something he couldn’t just buy with his father’s money serious.
Risking life and limb on a quest beyond the Wall serious.
The fact that he’d found a way to circumvent actually crossing the Wall—and its arrow-happy guardian, Oliver mentally grumbled—and already gotten sidetracked weren’t important right now. Even Odysseus got some magical help and went off course a few times on his own journey.
“Sorry,” Oliver offered, extending a hand to help the woman up only for it to be immediately and angrily slapped away. “Hey, I said I was sorry. It’s not like this candle came with a way to steer. And the only instruction I got was ‘think of me and only me.’ I was thinking of my mother, and I found you.”
“Well, maybe if the person using it actually knew what the hell he was doing then it might’ve worked better,” she hissed between gritted teeth, pushing herself upright using just her hands, legs still curled awkwardly beneath her.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, stepping forward with his hands outstretched to help her.
“You think?” She glared at him, stopping him cold as that look clearly promised a bit more than slap if he touched her right now. “You come crashing into me out of nowhere and ask me if I’m hurt. Wow. Nothing gets past you, does it?”
Oliver held both hands up in surrender and backed off. “Fine, you want to sit and sulk in the dirt. Message received loud and clear, lady.” He turned and started to head away from her, the hard-packed ground beneath his feet feeling a bit too hard for the middle of the woods, and, when he glanced down, gleaming strangely in the moonlight as well. He lifted his head and finally realized they were in a deep crater of some kind, the surrounding trees still smoldering slightly.
His eyes flew wide as it finally hit him what happened.
Oliver had lit the candle and thought of his mother, but then he’d remembered that the whole reason he even knew about his mother in the first place was because he’d told Laurel he’d cross the Wall to retrieve the fallen star they’d seen. The candle hadn’t taken him to his mother, but to that: where the star had fallen.
He immediately started checking the strange looking ground nearby, wincing as he realized there was nothing that even resembled a star. That left him only one option.
“Hey,” Oliver called, turning back to the still seething girl he’d left in the dirt. “You wouldn’t by chance have seen a fallen star around here, would you?”
She snorted instead of the insult he’d been expecting. “Funny, too. Wow, this is just a banner night for me.”
He bit his lip to contain his irritation, knowing that losing his temper would get him nowhere. “Look, if you really want me to take a hike, the easiest way to do that is to help me figure out what happened to the star. I saw it fall on this side of the Wall. I used the candle to come here to find it.”
“I thought you were looking for your mother?” she interjected, brows hiked imperiously.
Oliver waved her off. “Both, ok. But here,” he lifted his heel and brought it down hard on the gleaming earth twice to demonstrate, “is clearly where the star fell. So if you could just tell me whatever you know, I’ll be out of your hair a lot faster.”
“Fine,” she bit out. “Yes, that is where it fell. And up there,” she pointed at a place in the sky devoid of stars, “was where it was minding its own business—ok, not technically minding its own business because I was watching what was happening down here on Earth, but you try hanging out in space all the time without getting so bored you could scream, buster—until this damn thing,” she reached just beneath the neckline of the dress she wore and yanked a large, jeweled pendant on a gold chain around her neck into view, “just came out of nowhere and knocked me out of the heavens.” She then slapped her hands down to the ground on either side of her hips, leaning toward him as her voice rose and sharpened. “And right here is where an idiot decided to use magic he didn’t even understand to crash into me so he could ask a series of inane questions!”
He gaped at her a moment, then blinked, feeling the disbelief on his face. “…You’re the star?”
She shrugged and waved a hand at herself. “Yes, I’m the star. Congratulations, you found me. And now that I’ve told you what you wanted to know, can you please do what you said and leave me alone?”
Oliver crouched down next to her, sliding a hand into his pocket. “I would really like to do that, but there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What problem?” she asked, eyeing him wearily.
“I already promised my girlfriend that I’d bring her the star as a gift. Sorry.” He gave an apologetic wince as he pulled the enchanted chain his father had given him from his pocket and looped it around one of her wrists before she could yank her arm free. “Trust me, I’m not exactly looking forward to travelling with you either, but this is one promise I intend to keep.”
Her expression went utterly blank for a moment before that familiar irritation took over again. “Right. Because there’s nothing more romantic than the gift of a kidnapped woman with a broken leg,” she hissed, those luminous blue eyes flashing fire as she glared at him as best she could while still kneeling in the dirt. “Like hell I’m going off with you to meet whatever demented person would ask for that as a gift.” She folded her arms and pointedly tried to turn away in a huff, but the pained wince that crossed her face at the movement ruined the effect.
Oliver gnawed on his lower lip a moment then held the half-burned nub of the candle up for her to see. “What if I told you that if you just came with me, that at the end of it I’d send you back home?”
“The Babylon candle…” she whispered, gaze locking on his hand. “You didn’t use all of it.”
“No. And if you just agree to come with me, I’ll give the rest to you, I swear.”
She pursed her lips, clearly finding agreeing with him about anything distasteful but not having any better options just then. Heaving out a deep sigh, she rolled her eyes and let her arms drop. “Fine. But are you forgetting the whole broken leg thing?” She waved at her leg. “How exactly do you propose we get back to the Wall and your girlfriend without using the candle—which, just so you know, if you try to do, you will have to carry me kicking and screaming every step of the way?” Her chin rose defiantly with the warning.
“I could do that,” he told her, already striding toward her with his arms out.
“Wait, what?” she squeaked, trying to crawl away from him.
Oliver sighed, halting so she wouldn’t hurt herself. “I was offering to carry you. At least until we can get you a crutch or make a splint so you can walk on your own.”
“Oh,” she breathed, shifting uncomfortably at the prospect. “Okay.” Her eyes flitted over him as she lifted her arms to curl around his neck while he slid his own gently beneath her thighs and lifted, careful to jostle her legs as little as possible.
“That good?” he asked, peering down into her face for any signs of discomfort.
“Fine.” She was definitely uncomfortable, but it was due to his proximity not pain. “Thank you,” she bit out a moment later.
“Wow, that sounded like it hurt,” Oliver teased, grinning.
“Oh, shut up and get walking, Romeo.”
“Felicity,” she corrected, glancing up at him. “My name is Felicity.”
“Oliver Queen,” he replied in kind, grunting as he moved them along the uneven terrain of the crater.
“Well, it has been absolutely miserable to meet you, Oliver.”
A/N: Merry Christmas, Kaylee! Hope you enjoyed this little AU Olicity meet cute. And yes, I already have a complete plotline for this ‘verse planned out. So while I’m posting this as a one-shot, it’s highly likely I’ll make this part of a series.
Please review and let me know what you think!
Merry Christmas my lovely taggees (will add or remove tags on request): @kayleepetey, @dust2dust34, @captainsummerday, @so-caffeinated, @sailorslayer3641, @seetheskyaboveus, @lerayon, @yespleasehawkeye, @mymusiclove101, @hopeful-warrior
